


Planes 3 - Dusty's Decision

by Author_25



Category: Cars (Movies), Planes (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2018-11-18 21:51:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11299545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Author_25/pseuds/Author_25
Summary: With his life centered around two things; Racing and Firefighting. Dusty questions his career choices and which one should he keep. How will his friends of Propwash Junction and racing friends react to this news?





	1. Tough Life, Tough Decision

It was a peaceful afternoon, the sun was high in the sky, the trees gracefully danced to the rhythm of the wind and clouds rolled slowly through the vast open sky. At an airport in California, US, the Jetsky 500 was about to begin. Planes from all across the globe came to be a part of this racing event. Including a certain blue British plane, that goes by the name of Bulldog. Bulldog rolled into pit row, but as his pitties went to his tent to start prepping him for the race tomorrow, Bulldog looked at who he was up against. There was Van der Bird from Poland, Sun Wing from China, Little King from Ireland, Arturo from Italy and Dusty Crophopper from Untied States. Bulldog hadn't seen the crop duster since the Wings around the Globe Rally 2 years ago and hadn't heard word from him since. But as he was reversing into his pit, he saw Dusty's pit being taken down.  
"Excuse me," Little King called "Why are you taking down that tent?"  
"Change of plans, Dusty had to pull out of the event at the last minute. He won't be racing tomorrow." Bulldog was very confused, why did Dusty pull out? Dusty was a world class racer now so, why would he stop racing. At that moment, Bulldog wondered if something else important came up.  
"What can be more important than racing that he would give up this event?" Bulldog thought

"Crophopper 7, this is Propwash Tower, we got word that one of the fuel car on the 0900 hours train service to Ballahoo (If you get the reference, you get a cookie) has just caught fire on the train bridge, north-east of the town. You better get over there before the fire spreads to the other cars.” Dusty's pontoons filled up with water from the river and he began to take off.  
"Propwash Tower, I hear you loud and clear. My pontoons are filled and ready to go." Dusty did a hard 180 degree turn and followed the tracks down East. He found the caboose and saw the conductor (a pitty) waving a red flag. Dusty flew a bit lower, opened his left pontoon and circled around the burning fuel car, putting out an fire on the two other fuel cars beside them. He then did a hard 90 degree turn and then opened his right pontoon. Water flew onto the fuel car, extinguishing the fire. The diesel locomotive blew its horn at him and Dusty did another hard 180 degree turn and winked at him.  
"Propwash Tower, Crophopper 7 reporting the fire is out."  
"Excellent work Crophopper. Runaway 2, is all clear. You are free to land."

Dusty extended his wheels and landed a bit rough on the runaway. Chug was at the filling station, filling up Mayday when Dusty came to a stop beside him.  
"One of these days, I'll get the hang of stopping with this things." Dusty said, annoyed. He may had have them for a few months but they weighted more than his old landing gear, making him very heaving and sometimes, made he go off balance and hard to readjust himself.  
"Early days, pal."  
"Well, I'm sick of early days. I want to learn how to land with this things."  
Chug rolled his eyes. "There you go, Mayday."  
"Thanks Chug." Mayday when off to go about his business. Chug then drove over to Dusty and started to fill him up. "And I also had to turn down another race because of a fire. I know I have to save the town and all, but how can I be a world class racer if I can't race?"  
"Well done Dusty." The two looked over at Skipper. "Good job out there kiddo."  
"Well, I would be a lazy firefighter if I didn't do my job." Dusty joked. He then got annoyed again. "I just wish I could have a race where I don't pull out. I mean, you remember what happened last week. I was in 4th place with 3 laps to go and I had to pull out because of a fire that Mayday couldn't get to. I would have won the American Sprint too."  
"You were lucky that you weren't too far away from Propwash then. The fire would have spreaded towards the town."

"I know, I know." Dusty was a bit too annoyed to think so, he returned to his hanger. He rolled in and thought about how this firefighting career was affecting his racing career. He then glanced up, to where 6 trophies were, including the W.A.T.G.R., the Jetsky 100 and the Air-Jostler 500. His gaze then fell upon 4 photos, they hung beside his trophies case, going down. The first photo was of him and El Chu. They both had cups and they clanged them together. Sparky and one of El Chu's pities were holding them up but they were hiding from the camera. The second was of him and Bulldog. They both were outside with Dottie and one of Bulldog's pities. They were both stirring tea in a cup and the two planes were looking as posh as they can be for the camera. The third was of him and Rochelle. Dusty was in the bottom right corner of the photo with Rochelle taking ¾ of the photo. Dusty chuckled slightly until his gaze fell upon the last one. This one was both him and Ishani. Dusty had hit a few barrels outside and hurt his left wing a little. The photo was taken from their side, which Ishani chuckling a little and Dusty blushing a little. Dusty smirked, they were taken after the Wings around the Globe Rally, at his victory party. He missed all four of them and wondered if they were winning trophies themselves. He then rolled over to a small corner and turned on the television with one of his wings. Brent Mustangburger was talking to the fans.  
"Little King will be joining the Jetsky 100 but a spot has opened up as Dusty Crophopper, 2nd time this week has pulled out of a racing event. No one knows what is going on with the cropduster but we all hope he will come back and join a racing event without leaving before finishing a lap." Dusty sighed sadly as Brent continued talking. Dusty had made his mark in the world but now, he wondered if he should give that up and help out here. A few minutes later, he turned it off again and then rolled out of his hanger.


	2. Coming Clean

It had been a few days after his revolution and he began to wonder should he tell his friends. As he was travelling through Propwash, he looked up to the water tower to see "We are the proud town that has 4 time race winner and firefighter, Dusty Crophopper as a resistant." Dusty sighed; having two jobs was hard enough but having to miss out on one to do the other much worse. It was like having two boyfriend or girlfriends; you need to dump one to keep the other. Dusty was so busy looking, he didn't see Dottie reversing out of her workshop. He hit her square on, causing to launch forward.  
"Sorry Dottie" Dusty stuttered "I…I didn't see you…"  
"It's alright Dusty. I wasn't really paying attention." Dottie eyed Dusty curiously. "Something on you mind?"  
Dusty sighed and realized this was his moment to get a load of his wings "Dottie, I don't think I should have two jobs."  
"What?" Dottie was a little puzzled "What do you mean?!"  
"Dottie, I know becoming a racer was probably greatest thing that I could ever accomplished and becoming a firefighter to reopen our town was smart and brave of me to do so. But, I keep missing out on one to do the other, even on my day off, I have to be called in. I…I don't know which one I should keep."  
Dottie understood what was happening now. Wasn't easy for someone to work two jobs, let alone a teenager working 6 jobs a week. Most of the resistants' of Propwash never worked two jobs so they couldn't relate to Dusty's problem. Dottie then rolled directly in front of Dusty.  
"Dusty, we are your friends and we want you to be happy. If you have a problem, we try to help you. I may have been hard on you when you first started racing but you show me and the world what you are made of. Just because you give up one to work on the other, did doesn't mean we'll be mad or unhappy with you, we love you here and we want you to be happy."  
Dottie put her arms around his suspension beams as a hug. Dusty smiled and rested his nose on her cap very softly. A second later, Dusty opened his eyes and frowned nerously.  
"Dottie, do you think Skipper will be as supportive as you?"  
"Only one way to find out."

"Wait, so let me get this straight, between fighting fires here and racing around the world, you having a hard time picking between them?" They found Skipper, Chug, Sparky and Mayday at Honkers later.  
"Well, to be fair" Chug began "You could be fighting fires here that have the same boring scenery here, seeing everyone you know and love, dipping and diving, collecting water to stop the burning hot fires that can melt everything in site from reaching our town"  
"I know that but still…"  
"Or," Chug continued ignoring Dusty all together "you could be racing, showing off your skills and racing in new places, winning and showing off how zeros like you became heroes. Let me tell you something Dusty…"  
Skipper looked very unamused as he listened to Chug's rant. "Alright, alright." Chug then stopped talking. "He gets the picture. Dusty, the way I see it is, is that you could let your fans down by quitting or you can let your family down. You leave firefighting, this town will close but we will still love you, even for your mistake."  
Dusty began to get a little unhappy "That doesn't help at all."  
"Oh it will" Skipper chuckled "Just give it time."  
Dusty, with much thought, decided to head back to his hanger and rest up there. Once he was out of earshot, Dottie turned to the others as they drank their cans of oil. "Dusty really needs help deciding this." Then, Dottie had an idea. "I've got it. What Dusty needs is his friends to help him through this. I better make some calls, starting with Piston Peak." And with that, Dottie drove away, leaving a very confused trio of vehicles behind.


	3. Calling in the Gang, P1

In the valleys of Piston Peak laid the 'Piston Peak Air Attack', one of the planes that lived there was Lit' Dipper. She was watching the American Sprint, a race that started at the most eastern city, Sacramento to the most western city, Dover. There were 23 planes, two of which were Dusty Crophopper and Rochelle. The planes had 45 miles in their flight and they were only one mile from Propwash Junction. Dusty had taken the lead from Jackson Skyshifter and was being to put a lead over him when Rochelle began to catch up to him.  
"How is he doing?" Blade Ranger, the helicopter of the team and who trained Dusty, was a plane who never understood why racing was so important to Dusty but couldn't deny, he had guts to go after the big planes.  
"He just took over the 2 time winner, Jackson Skyshifter and is now in the lead. For a plane who wasn't be doing much racing, he sure knows how to win."  
Blade and Lit' Dipper turn their attention back to the monitor as Rochelle had overtook him.  
"Hm, he could try that Radio-G to overtake." Dipper was now so hyped for the race. "Or maybe a Vertical overpass. Or maybe even a…"  
"Maybe he can overtake by just being good." Blade rolled his eyes.

Dusty was going on the attack again and just when he was preparing to overtake from her left wing, he noticed a bit of smoke, coming from the North-West, which is where Propwash is located. He then realized that wasn't just chimney smoke coming from a pit or a hanger, it was coming from outside town.  
“Propwash tower, do you copy?!"  
"Go ahead Crophopper 7."  
“Can you tell me where the fire is?"  
"Fire?" The pitty rolled around, looking through each window very carefully until he saw an old barn, burning outside town. "The fire is coming from Farmer Cornwall old barn."  
"Can Mayday get to it?"  
"Not in time, I think you could get to it, faster than he can."  
"On my way."  
Dusty then tilted sideways and began to turn to a 45 degree turn. The racers behind him gave him a look of confusion. Dusty then began to tilt downwards towards the ground.  
"Hold on folks, Dusty has just left the race again."

Dipper and Blade were confused, on the TV, they couldn't see the smoke so to the fans it was unknown why he bawled out.  
"Aw, that's the second time this month he's done that." Dipper complained. She was looking forward to see him make a comeback. "Why is he doing this?"  
"You can ask him yourself" Blade turned to the door and drove outside "When we get to Propwash Junction."  
Dipper raced out of her hanger and nearly hitting Blade on the way, but stopping just 50 inches from his rotators.  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"Well, the town's mechanic told me that he's having a bit of trouble with choosing." Blade began to take off. "So, I was called in to see if I could get some more out of him. You're coming with."  
Dipper was excited. Finally, she could get to the bottom of this issue.

In India, Ishani was resting in the sun with her fiancée (Hey you wanted Dusty and Dipper romance, you got it), when her pitty came up to her.  
"Miss Ishani, I have a message from Propwash. Dusty is having some trouble choosing between two jobs and someone called Donnie would like you to come and see if you can sort things out." (And yes, I did spell her name wrong on purpose)  
"I would like to" Ishani said "But Nek and I have a wedding to plan". They were resting for a few minutes before going in to make preparations (Before you ask, I did look up male Indian names before writing this. I like the name Nek and its meaning is Noble Person.)  
"Hey, your friend needs you." Nek interrupted "Besides, you did most of the work on the wedding, I think I can do quite a bit too."  
"Very well then. I'll let them know you're on your way."  
Ishani smiled a little. Then Nek whispered "He isn't an ex of yours, right?"  
"No" Ishani raised an eyebrow. Nek cleared his throat.  
"Good, because they can be very annoying or rude."  
Ishani rolled her eyes as she went to make she was ready to fly.

That night, Rochelle arrived back in Canada to her hanger. She pushed the hanger door open and pushed the light switch. Lights flickered but they filled the whole room. As she got into the hanger, she accidently rolled over the remote and it when to channel 218, the Racing Sports News channel.  
“To bad Miguel Camino's, Rip Clutchgoneski's and Max Schnell's engine blew. They could have been the ones to win. But Lightning McQueen blew his own race, leaving Francesco win the first ace to the World Grand Prix. But let's go over to see who won the American Sprint. Colin?"

"Thanks Darrel, things went very well in this week's "American Sprint", Rochelle took home the trophy today and had an amazing lead of 1 minute, 6 seconds over 2nd place, Jackson Skyshifter. However, Dusty Crophopper, who in second place when Rochelle took the lead, once again bailed out of the race for unknown reasons. The media have been trying to get a hold of Dusty or this team but no one has responded to our request."  
As Rochelle was pushing her trophy on her case, she froze. She had remembered that she overtook Dusty but after the race was over, he was nowhere to be seen. Something was going on with the Crophopper and she was worried. Determined, she left her hanger and locked it after her. She was heading to Propwash but first, had to make a bit of a detour to El Chu's Grandmother's hanger in Dover, where El Chu was there, visiting her for a while. The flight would take about 7 but Dusty and EL Chu had a very good friendship. Hopefully he can help.

A few days later, at around 9:12 p.m., Dusty was flying over town when he heard a voice, he knew.  
"Glad to see you taking your job so seriously." He looked over to see Blade Ranger.  
"Blade! What are you doing here?"  
"Dottie called me and told me you were having a bit of trouble between two jobs."  
"I see." Dusty smiled. But his smile was wiped away when he got a call.  
"Dusty, we had a bit of a problem."  
"Go ahead, Propwash Tower."  
"Two little planes were reported missing by the railway bridge. A fire was reported around that area a few seconds later. We think, but not hoping, that one of the planes might of crash landed and the engine might have overheated enough to cause a fire."  
"Copy that. Over and out."  
Dusty was eager to show Blade that he had learned more with a new gearbox. He then headed over the river and began to descend downwards to the river.  
"Right, what would you think is the best way to take down this fire…?"  
"Oh, no no no. Champ, you're in charge of this town. Show me that you can take care of this town."  
Dusty knew Blade had a point. Blade was in town and he was no longer the S.E.A.T. trainee. It was time to show him what he can do. He was now out of the town and began to scoop water off the river. Opening his pontoons, he gently landed on the water and began filling them up. He looked at a new gauge that Dottie that installed on his dashboard. It showed two long bars with 500 ltrs to 9,000 ltrs on the right side of the two. These new gauges were pontoon gauges, which showed how much were in each pontoon. Once they had hit 9,000 he closed them up and headed towards the fire. Dusty circled around the fire area and looked to see what he can do. A second later, he divided into action. Doing a 360 degree loop, he opened both and had managed to empty one of his pontoons and extinguished around the fire to prevent it from spreading. He had quickly closed the other to keep at least 700 ltrs left. Once that was done, he looped around and extinguished a small part of the fire. The two planes were able to get free and evacuate the fire area. Dusty then landed on the lake again and refilled. Once they were fill again, he lifted off and this time, he extingushed the entire fire. Smoke rose from the burnt patch and he re-joined Blade as the two headed back to town.  
"Nice job there, champ." Blade smiled, before his face when serious "Don't go thinking you're the best. Getting too over confident is the fast way to forget what you're doing."  
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."  
Blade then looked at Dusty "So, what is this I hear of leaving a race?"  
Dusty frowned and looked closely at Blade. "How…how did you know that?"  
"I was watching your race when you left." Dusty blinked, he had absolutely no comment. Blade chuckled "I came in to see how you were doing, since Lit' Dipper loves watching you race." Dusty blinked again, he knew Dipper had a big crush on him, like he did with Ishani. However, a few months ago, Ishani did get a proposal from his boyfriend, meaning she was taken. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he might have been chasing after the wrong plane. Maybe, he thought, Dipper was the one for him. As Dusty landed via the runaway and Blade landed on the ground, they found Windlifter and Lit' Dipper talking to Skipper.

"Pretty much, yes." Skipper was telling them "May not have a lot of fires like you do but, enough to keep Dusty and Mayday busy." The three then looked over to see Dusty and Blade.  
"I hear you pulled out of a race?" Windlifter asked  
“Yeah, it's hard being the only aerial firefighter here." Dusty sighed "It would be nice to have a second firefighter here, but I'm not sure how we can manage it."  
"Not to mention this whole decision you have to make too." Skipper added.  
"And Chug's advice wasn't helpful at all. I think he was trying to get a point across but, not sure what it is?"  
Dusty glanced over to a mountain in the far distance, as the sun was setting, casting multi colours of Orange and red, mixed together with white clouds.  
"I can actually see why you're having trouble" Blade said, braking through the silence. "Both jobs seem different but do have similarities."  
Windlifter then added "He does have a point." "Everyone looked at him "Firefighting is a very serious job. You risk their lives for people they probably never met. Racing is a sport that you participate to give people, you probably never met, a good show. Both jobs have glory, where it's racing for glory so everyone knows you or you fight fires to help others, without trying to get glory. I can see why you're having trouble choosing, both seem have the same but that's why we're here."  
(I tried him to make him too similar to how he is in the movie, very calm and full of wisdom, I think I failed at it)  
Dusty thought about for a good bit of time. Windlifter had a good point. But he was too tired to think, Skipper knew this too.  
"I think it's best if we let the boy sleep it over. Come, I'll show you the inflatable hangers."  
Dusty watched them go, with his eyes casting on Lit' Dipper. Her paint work was just as he remembered and she hadn't changed at all, as far as Dusty could tell.

"She's pretty, oui?"  
Dusty jumped and looked beside him.


	4. Calling in the Gang, P2

Dusty jumped and looked behind him. There was Rochelle. She chuckled at Dusty's reaction. Dusty chuckled too after a few seconds.  
"Hello Rochelle, nice to see you here. What are you doing here?"  
"Well, I saw you bailing in the middle of a race and I realized that you weren't your cheerful self."  
Rochelle began to move slowly down, towards the runaway.  
"Come, tell me."  
Rochelle and Dusty took off on the runaway. The two were now air-born over the countryside that surrounded Propwash. Rochelle looked around. It was a lot different than her hometown in Canada but there was something, charming about it.  
"Alright Dusty. What's wrong with you?"  
"Rochelle, you know the phrase 'Caught between a rock and a hard place', well, that's how I feel like now."  
"How so?"  
"Well, I wanted to be the second firefighter to open the town once again but training to be a firefighter wasn't the hardest thing, it's choosing between two jobs is what make it hard. Racing has always been my thing, but…there are spots where Mayday can't reach without me. If I choose one, there is a risk involved with the other."  
"Risk involved?" Rochelle asked  
"Well, if I choose racing, Propwash could be shut down again if Mayday can't do anything to stop the fire but if I choose firefighting...I don't know which one to choose."  
Rochelle really didn't know what to say. Dusty really was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She wanted to help Dusty when her thoughts were rudely interrupted.

"Oh, well if you ask me, my dear boy, I would pick firefighting over racing."  
Dusty and Rochelle were surprised.  
"Bulldog, where did you…never mind."  
Rochelle chuckled under her breath. "What brings you here?"  
"I came to see why Dusty is bailing on races, left, right and centre. Until I heard your conversion."  
Dusty blinked, more confused, but didn't question it.  
"Dusty, I may not know anything about firefighting but if I was a firefighter, I would shorten down on races and more on fighting fires. I mean, what happens if there is a fire while you're gone?" Bulldog hoped this would help Dusty, but Rochelle began to think that Bulldog just wanted Dusty out of the picture.  
"Well, we do have another firefighter." He tilted sideways so his wing was facing down towards the town. The two looked down to see Mayday talking to Blade.  
"The truck or the helicopter?"  
"The truck."  
Bulldog then looked out over fields.  
"But Dusty, you do know that something could go wrong while you're racing, right?"  
Dusty blinked, he knew Mayday was old but he completely forgot that something could give in. Mayday had almost broke his water cannon once and almost sheared the water pipe another time. If Dusty was going to make a decision, he would have to decide really quickly. Rochelle and Bulldog lined up to the runaway and were preparing to land but Rochelle noticed Dusty was trailing behind.

"You coming back, Dusty?"  
Dusty came out of this trail of thought and shock a very nasty thought off his mind.  
"No, no. I think I might…fly around for a bit."  
Dusty did a complete 180 degree turn and headed back towards the river. Bulldog and Rochelle watched him go and then, looked at each other.


	5. Heating Up (Oh, the pun)

Rochelle and Bulldog began to decent towards the runway. As Bulldog touched down, Rochelle looked in her side mirrors. Rochelle was known to be emotionally sensitive, so, she felt like crying when she watched Dusty, very sadly and slowly, fly away. Rochelle glanced back at the runway as she extended her wheels and got ready to land. After touching down, she rolled over to Bulldog.  
"You could have phrased that a lot nicer." She said bluntly. Bulldog blinked before turning to face her.  
"Excuse me?"  
"What you said. Dusty is trying to make a decision and you...you're scaring him more than helping."  
"The boy's got to learn that sometimes, not everything comes out the way they want it to."  
"Oh, so scaring him into thinking the other firefighter could pass away, is helping him?"  
"Rochelle, Dusty took up firefighting for two reasons, to help open Propwash Junction and to be the town's second firefighter. If he is going to take up the responsibility of fighting fires, he needs to know that the town depends on him and sometimes, you need to give up something so you can give something in return. Not to mention, not everything can come out alright."  
"So, it's better to do something boring than doing something that you like?!"  
"In some situations, yes!"  
Rochelle's and Bulldog's propellers slowed right down and stopped turning all together as an uncomfortable silence kicked in. Bulldog was always the type of plane, when in situations like this, he wasn't afraid to speak out and act like an older brother figure, even if the plane or car he was talking to, wasn't able to handle the truth or wasn't ready for it.  
"The boy needs that information as much as we need fuel to keep racing."  
Rochelle wasn't interested anymore, she turned away and rolled slowly away, leaving Bulldog behind.

That night, Dusty, Chug and El Chu were all at Honkers. Dusty was still thinking of what to do as El Chu got to know Chug. Chug was sort of a bit busy drinking what was in his tank to ask El Chu about his life.  
"I got to tell you. Dusty and I are so close, that I always like to test his fuel before giving it to him, just to make sure it isn't dangerous."  
El Chu glanced at the nozzle, at Chug and back again. But before he could say anything, Skipper came up to the table.  
"I tried to tell him before, but he's just being Chug." El Chu looked quite afraid before glancing at him friend.  
"How is your drink, amigo?"  
"It's fine. I'm just, not really in the mood to drink."  
"He's been like that for a few days now." Skipper interrupted "This choice really is as bad as you are making out to be, isn't it?"  
Dusty just nodded before looking back down at his controls in front of his eyes.  
"Well, what ever you choose, I'll be be with you. If you choose racing, we'll be racing again. If you choose firefighter, I know where I'll go visit next."  
Dusty smiled a little. "Thanks El Chu."  
"Dusty," Skipper rolled away from the table "Come on, we're going flying for a bit."

The two were flying around Propwash. The moonlight shone below them and the wind blew the trees gentle. It was a very quiet night.  
"Dusty, I never told you this, but I'm glad you came into my life." Dusty looked over at Skipper "I was so grumpy and bitter towards the ones who turned up at my door. I feel ashamed for the trouble I caused in the Jolly Wrenches and somehow, it shaped me into a bitter old plane who cared about no one bar Sparky. But then, you came along and well, after the Wings around the Globe rally, my life got a lot more interesting. No one can be more prouder than me, right now."  
A smile creped onto Dusty's face. "Thanks Skip." The old plane smiled back. The two then turned their attention back to their surroundings. Dusty then realised something. Out of all the years he had been in Propwash, he had never realised how far the fields stretch. They cover the landscape with brown, gold and green colours. There were farmhouses, barns and livestock for miles. Dusty also realised that there could be fires, even way out here. Then, he remembered what Bulldog said. His mind spun as he thought about everything his friends said. The more he thought about, the he knew his friends depended on him.  
"I need to find Mayday".

Dusty then did a complete 180 degree turn back to Propwash.  
"Dusty, where are you going?"  
"I need to find Mayday." Skipper smirked before racing under the bridge to do 180 degree climb over the bridge to turn around. But both planes didn't notice smoke raising from a hay pile, in a barn, that they had hovered over.


	6. The Heated Climax (More of the Puns)

Dusty landed and began to hunt to find Mayday. He asked cars, planes, pitties but no one knew where Mayday was. Until he came across Windlifter.  
"Windlifter, have you seen Mayday?"  
"That red fire truck with a checked tank? Yeah, he's gone with Blade to...Honkers?"  
"Alright. Thanks Windlifter."  
Dusty left Windlifter alone as he turned around and headed to Honkers. However, as he was about to enter, he noticed something odd. In one of the barns, there was a weird pulsating orange/yellow light. Dusty knew all to well, that was a fire and knew he had to do something.  
"Enjoying the scenery?"  
Dusty looked over as Chug rolled alongside "Oh, hey Chug. No, I'm just noticed a fire and I'm going to take care of it."  
Chug raised an eyebrow "Are you sure about that?"  
"Positive, just a quick fly over. Then I can go find Mayday."  
"But that's one of the building that contains..." Dusty spun around quickly and raced off to the runway. "...freshly rolled hay for..." Chug sighed as he watched his best friend fly away.

However, Dusty was wrong. As he got closer, he noticed that the entire barn was engulfed by the flames. Dusty then realised something, he looked at his controls. Both his pontoons were completely empty. He kept glancing nervously at his tanks and barn. He knew he had to fight this fire but he left for water, the fire would get worse. He rolled his eyes as he realised the answer. But then he noticed something else...  
"I can't really go down stream, the fire is too close to the river. The wind will blow flames into my path. I'll have to go down river. At least the wind will be blowing the fire away from me."  
Dusty shot downwards to the right and began to land on the river.

Meanwhile, the fire alarm rang and everyone came out to see what happen. Blade and Mayday came out and were horrified to see the size of it. Bulldog, Rochelle and El Chupacabra were amazed, they had never seen a fire this big.  
Blade inhaled loudly and turned to the others. "Windlifter, you and I are going to full up from the water tower. Dipper, go find Crophopper and then go to the river to be refuelled."  
"Go it." But before the three could move, "Dusty is already gone."  
Blade's eyes open wide as he stared at Chug, who, of course, didn't realise what he said. Everyone began to move closer to Chug, very slowly.  
"He's fighting that fire? ALONE?!"

Dusty pulled up as he veered of to his left, towards the fire.  
"Alright Crophopper, you fought fires before, lets not let this...huge...dangerous...monstrous..." Dusty then gulped worried "...fire get to you." Quite worried, Dusty began to bank around the fire and spray water to stop it from spreading, keeping it in one location. Unfortunately, one pontoon was completely empty and the other was close. Dusty was annoyed, he knew that he couldn't go on like this, he'll be just wasting water than taking out the blaze. But he was determined to take it on. He landed on the water perfectly and was getting ready to lift out when suddenly, Dipper fly over head and unleashed water on the burning farmhouse. She did an aileron roll in delight and banked 180 degrees back as Windlifter hovered over the fire and released the water in his tank.  
"Think you'll do it without us?" Blade asked  
"Well, sort of. But I'm glad you're all here to help."  
Dusty and Blade flew side by side and unleashed water together as they flew over the fire.

Mayday meanwhile had found out that the farmhouse wasn't vacant and was worried. He knew he couldn't go down there himself, he need a hose to fight this fire. He went into a slight panic mode and needed to find a way. Suddenly, his eyes fell upon two racing planes.  
"You two" Mayday rolled up to Rochelle and Bulldog "I need your help with something."  
"This is absolutely preposterous." Bulldog said annoyed as the magnet, fitted to his undercarriage, was making sway. "A fine racer like me should not be doing this."  
"Be happy you don't have to go all the way down." Rochelle had three ropes attached to her wings and fin as well as a small cannon on her right wing.  
"Stop whining and start descending." Rochelle exhaled loudly and began to head towards the house. She also had a small square green glass over her eye. She closed one eye, lined the the centre over the door and shot the water at the door. Once the door was clear, she began to pull up and turn back around towards the town.  
"Your turn." She called, with a hint of bitter in her voice. Bulldog began to head towards the house. As he was descending, he saw the farmer, a grey pitty with blue painted overalls, with his wife, a white pitty with her bottom half over her body in blue.  
Bulldog smirked as he slowed down and the farmer left his wife go first. She rolled over and was immediately sucked up.  
"Apologies, my dear, for the hard bump."  
"It's alright. Just get me to the town please."  
"Right away." The wife suddenly became worried for her husband as bits of flaming wood from the porch ceiling came crashing down, landing beside him. "What about my husband?"  
"Don't worry, my dear. Your husband will be saved, just as soon as you are brought to safety."  
The wife wished it was that easy. Seeing her husband in danger, worrying wasn't a very easy thing to do. Bulldog has to be careful, he did have a passenger. He swayed slightly as he turned around the smoke until Propwash was right ahead. He adjusted himself careful for the runway and slowed down as he careful put the pitty on the runway. On a small tower, a potty was waiting. Bulldog was doing slow enough for the pitty to turn the magnet's power switch to the off setting, allowing the pitty to run under her own power. Bulldog pulled up and did a 180 degree turn and faced the other way. On the opposite side of the runway, there was another pitty with a tower, who turned the magnet back on as Bulldog banked up and headed back to the fire. Unfortunately, by the time he get back to the fire, the farmhouse was hidden and Bulldog wasn't sure which way the farmhouse was. Gulping nervously, he took a chance and headed in through the flames.

Things weren't going better for the firefighters.  
"Windlifter checking in, my tank is completely empty."  
"Blade here, I am too. Champ, you and Dipper give it all you got. We'll be back."  
"Copy that. Dipper, we'll have to take turns getting water. You go get some and I'll go when you get back."  
Dipper turned around and headed back to the river. Dusty hoped this was the right choice as he unleashed quite a bit of water from the pontoons. The fill up for Windlifter and Blade was taking far to long, meaning it was up to Dusty and Dipper now.  
Unfortunately, Dipper came in to landed after a few minutes.  
"Dipper, what are you doing here?"  
"My water tank flaps are jammed shut."  
Dottie came alongside. "Come on over to my workshop and we'll have a look."  
As two were leaving, Windlifter glanced nervously at the fire.

Dusty was determined to take out this fire on his own. With filled pontoons, Dusty took off again, trying to think of ways to whittle the fire down, that he didn't notice the tree until the last second. He smashed his pontoon into it and it fall off. The pontoon hit the ground hard and it's flap door shot open. Dusty felt his left side getting heavier. Suddenly, he found himself heading through a very forest area. He felt his himself descend, but quickly caught himself and lifted himself back up into the air. Dusty's bottom frame was badly buckled, his left pontoon was hanging at the back, his paint had been chipped, his two wings sustained quite a beating, he was in very bad shape and had to admit defeat. Shaking badly, he fly home.  
"Something wrong." Skipper removed his binoculars from his eyes. "He's coming back."  
Dusty headed for the runway, however, without his second pontoon, landing smoothly wasn't an option. He landed roughly and slid down the runway. Sparks flew and long scrapes formed. Dusty continued sliding until he slid right off the runway and against the rocky cliffsides. Smashing down the cliffs three times, he spun around and came to a stop beside a rock. His vision went blurry and his eyes slowly closed.


	7. Awaken

With very sore eyes and his vision blurry, he opened his eyes and through the open door, he noticed the sky was in its morning stage. The sky was blue with the clouds gold, a gentle breeze blew through the trees, taking a few leaves of the branches. It was very quiet. With the last remaining strength he had, he slowly rolled towards the door with the sounds of very squeaky wheels and his battered wings wobbling very badly as he rolled along. Once he left the hanger, he noticed the residence of Propwash were busy setting up their shops, going to Honkers for Breakfast or were saying goodbye to their husbands as they headed out of to work in another state. Dusty always felt happy when he woke up in Propwash, he never understood why though. Perhaps it was just it was his home, perhaps it was just so peaceful or perhaps, it was a lovely place to be. Once he felt he had the strength to move again, he rolled outside and down the road. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed. Cars and planes greeted him warmly or gave their thanks.  
'Yeah, this is home.' Dusty thought to himself.

Dusty then arrived at Honkers, when he saw the gang around a table, laughing and chatting. Dusty smiled and rolled up the table.  
"What was it like flying during the war?"  
"Definitely wasn't a walk in the park. Many of my colleagues never got to see the next morning. But they were good soldiers, every single one of them. I remember telling my squardron about a brave plane we use to call..."  
"Well, I'd be." Bulldog exclaimed, completely interrupting Skipper. "Dusty, me boy. You're awake."  
"And you look great." Chuckled smiled as he spat on a rag and cleaned off a bit of mud on his body, under his wings.  
"Really? Because I sure don't feel like it."  
"Well, that answers my next question." Blade added.  
"How long have I been out for?"  
"If you had woken up in another 12 hours, it would have been a full week." Skipper then turned serious. "Unfortunately, the area hasn't been the same since the fire."

Dusty and the gang then left and headed to the exact area where they had been watching the fire. Dusty tank turned as he saw a giant patch of black grass, burnt trees and singed hedges, which were surrounded by a sea of green that stretched out to the horizon in the distance. This, sent Dusty into panic mode.  
"I was a fool." Dusty sighed. "I thought I could take on this fire, by myself. I...I couldn't stop it, I almost lost the fight."  
"These things happen." Everyone looked at Windlifter. "We had many firefighters come to Piston Peak to join, only a select few managed to survive. One plane we worked with, the fire set his gas tank on fire, cause him to explode. Many of his parts still remain scattered within the wilderness." Dusty flinched. "We all had doubts in our lives. Some are big, some are small. We can make mistakes, but we learn from them, improve ourselves, make our lives easier the second time the problem comes around."  
"But, how can I learn from a mistake like this? To be a firefighter, I need to be as close to the fire to stop it."  
"There is one way. Find another plane willing to take up firefighter."

Later on, Dusty was think of friends who could help him, unfortunately, none of them would be suitable for the job or already had a full time job. He was so busy, he didn't notice Lit' Dipper rolling up.  
"This Dinoco stuff really gets your engine revving. Shame we don't have it up at Piston Peak."  
Dusty smiled. "I actually wore a Dinoco as a sponsorship logo among 13 others."  
"Oh yeah, when you took part in an Air Show during November. That looked like a lot of fun. You know, after watching you, I tried to do the tricks you did. Blade was annoyed and thought it was a waste of time. I didn't think so. You know, I always wanted to..."

Dipper continued talking while Dusty nodded but then, he remembered something Ishani told him months ago.  
'So you're engaged then?'  
'Seems that way, yes. I'm sorry Dusty.'  
'No, it's my fault. I keep falling in love with the wrong woman.'  
'Well, don't worry. I'm sure when the time comes, you'll find the right one.'  
'Are you sure?'  
'If I wasn't, I would be laughing.'  
Dusty then began thinking of what Blade said when they were at Piston Peak, one the morning he woke up after being out for 5 days. Dipper was the only one to show interest in the S.E.A.T. and did care about him. Was she really the right one? Was it worth taking a chance?

"Of course I am getting better. Want to see my rim scars?"  
Dusty quickly zoned back in. "Oh, no thanks. But I actually do have to ask you something?"  
"What is it?"  
"Would you...would you like to join me for dinner later and maybe...a flight around Propwash?"


	8. A Night to Remember

Lit' Dipper stared in surprise at Dusty, she had completely lost her voice.  
"Um...what did you just say?"  
"I'd like to take you out for a few drinks and maybe, a flight..."  
Dusty trailed off when Dipper didn't reply. Despite the happy chatter around the hanger and loud music, the two felt very uncomfortable, as if they were the only ones there. Dusty's mind went racing, not sure what to say next. Then, to his surprise, Dipper gave a small smile.  
"You know, I think I'd like that."  
Dusty didn't expect Dipper to be so calm, yet he didn't know her mind was about to explode with delight.  
"Let's say, meet back here in 30 minutes?"

"Wow, that sounds lovely." Dottie smiled as she moved out from under Dusty. She was untightened his roll cage that was connected to his pontoons. "Thank Chrysler you've moved on because you've been chasing your trail smoke for who knows how long."  
"Thanks for the words of encouragement." Dottie then chuckled.  
"What I mean is, I'm glad you've moved on, because you're going on a date with a very special lady. You don't have to worry, to much, since you know her very well. I'm not saying because I'm your friend, I'm saying this because it's true. Dipper is very lucky to have some-plane like you."  
"I guess that makes me feel better." Dusty replied with a smirk. The lift was lowered and for the first time in a long time, Dusty deployed his landing gear. Dusty wasn't use to being so low, let alone being slightly slanted upwards.  
"Oh boy. This may take a while."  
"Well, you have 20 minutes." Dottie smiled, putting her tools away.  
"Hey Champ, we've got a fire at the courthouse. We need your help."  
"But my pontoons were just taken off."  
"Well, get them back on. Dipper and Windlifter are on their way."  
Dusty sighed as he drove on the lift. Dottie rolled her eyes and opened the tool chest again.

Once the pontoons were on, Dusty quickly sped over to the other side of the runway.  
"Alright Champ, what's your orders?"  
"What did you guys do so far?"  
"Keep locals away from the building and at a save distance as well as put a wall around it to stop the spread."  
"That's not enough. Blade, go to the Dottie's repair shop and water cannon fitted. Blast all the windows." Blade nodded and swung hard left. "Windlifter, do a sweep of all four walls. See if you can at least stop the flames at the windows and doors while Blade is busy with the cannon installment." Windlifter then ascent upwards to get ready into position. "Lit' Dipper, you and I will do a sweep of the fire that made it outside. You control the fire on the back and front, let me take care of the sides."  
"On it!" From the huge wall of smoke that was rising upwards from the building, Dipper emerged and got to work. Dusty then noticed something. Despite being ruined slightly by black smoke, that had clung to her body, her normal yellow paintjob was a cream and her red stripes were now a gold. Dusty snapped back into reality and then turned left towards the river.

The fire had been driven back by the time Blade returned and with his help, the fire inside the building was almost out for Mayday.  
"I'm sorry Dipper. I'd promise you a drink but instead I gave you barbecued bricks."  
"Are you kidding? That was the most fun I had on a date ever...then again, I never really was on a date...but I really enjoyed it...properly enjoyed it more if it was just me and you but it was very fun."  
"Well, that is enough fires for me tonight." Blade sighed through a yawn.  
"Maybe I can get back to sleep." The ground shook slightly as Windlifter rolled away. Blade smirked at Dusty as he rolled away too. Dusty and Dipper once again found themselves in uncomfortable silence.  
"You know, we could still go for a night flight." Lit' Dipper suggested, before she took off down the runway. Dusty smirked and quickly chased her. The landing gear went up as Dipper took off and the wind brushed off Dusty's roll cage as they soared through the air. Lit' Dipper went under a bridge but Dusty flew upside down, over the bridge. He turned himself right side up as he flew after her. Every second, slowly Dusty was catching up to her, until she took a hard right and went into the forest. Dipper soared down a wide path before she arrived at a meadow. He then got confused when Dusty wasn't following her. She turned at 180 and flew back towards the forest. Suddenly, Dusty flew over the trees, over her and zoomed off into the distance.  
"What's the matter?" He chuckled. "Can't keep up. Maybe you'll think twice before challenging a world class racer."  
"I remember that when I meet one." She retorted as she chased after him. The trees waved as the two continued their little game with the two weaving to avoid being caught by the other. The countryside soon disappear and was replaced by the runway tarmac and hangers. Dusty and Dipper went either side of the airport control tower and then disappeared into the darkness once more.

It was an hour later by the time the two finally got bored.  
"So, was that more fun?"  
"You bet it was! Shame I didn't get something to drink but anywho, I really did have a great time tonight."  
"Well, maybe we could get a drink tomorrow. I buy?"  
"Sounds great, I'll see ya tomorrow...thanks Dusty, for everything."  
"Hm, it's my pleasure Dipper."  
Dipper smirked and rolled away to her holiday hanger, leaving Dusty outside his. Dusty smirked as he turned into his and closed the doors behind him.


	9. My Decision is Final!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This, along with "The Greatness in the Marcus", are going to get rewritten so right now, I want to finish this story as fast as possible but still have a story to tell. The reason this is being finished and not "The Greatness in the Marcus" is because this was my first ever multi-chapter story that I uploaded and worked on so it makes sense.
> 
> Oh, and Sarah, if you are reading this, apologies for not sending you anything in a long time but I'm working on Chapter 2 for "First to the End" and once that is completed, I'll send it to you. Apologies.

The hanger doors slid open to reveal a very sleepy Dusty. With a loud yawn and a flutter of his eyes, he rolled into the cool morning air. As he stared out on the open fields, Dusty realised he was smiling without even trying, then, he remember last night and sighed happily. He stared out on the fields once more and then rolled away to Honkers.  
Dusty looked around as he rolled in. Honkers wasn’t as busy as it was at night but business was still good and many tables were occupied, including one where a certain Mexican and French-Canadian stood.  
“Morning Champ.”  
“Oh, morning Blade.” Dusty pulled up to the table, on the opposite of Blade.  
“What exactly did you and Dipper do last night? She is usually the first one up out of all of us.”  
“We...we went for a flight.” Dusty said.  
“Uh huh…” Blade began. “No doubt she’ll be daydreaming about you when you’re not around. Luckily there are six rookies to help.”  
Dusty was puzzled. “Rookies?”  
“You think you were the only one who was trained at Piston Peak and went home? Six rookies moved to Piston Peak to train, but only four are leaving. Two will be staying with us.”  
“That sound like a problem.”  
“Would be if we hadn’t any room for them. The area is just big enough and we have only just enough for one hanger. If those two are going to live there, they’ll have to share.”  
“But what about the hanger I stayed in?”  
“Need I remind you, that wasn’t a hanger but a storage shed. Without the supplies and funds we have now, we couldn’t build a spare hanger.” Just then, Skipper rolled up to their table. “Probably wouldn’t stop Maru from trying to.”  
Dusty muttered in agreement. He had seen and heard Maru’s ‘better than new’ attitude to life. At that moment, Skipper rolled up.  
“So tell me, what were you going to talk to Mayday about?”  
“Mayday?”  
“Didn’t you tell me you were going to speak to him? The night of the fire?”  
Dusty thought for a moment. The night of the fire had been fuzzy but each time somecar talked about it, the events came back to him and he remembered a lot more. After hearing this, he remembered he had turned around after talking to Skipper and flew back to Propwash to talk to Mayday.  
“Oh yeah. Well, after you told me that whatever decision I made, you would support me with said decision, it made me think and well...I guess I went back to Propwash to talk to Mayday.”  
“You made up your mind?” Blade said, raising an eyebrow.  
“Yep, I realised that-”  
“I thought it over” a voice echoed through the hanger, cutting Dusty off completely. “and I’m willing to negotiate.”  
“Negotiate?” Blade raised an eyebrow at the old weathered crop duster.  
“Oh boy, here we go again…” Sighed Skipper, as he reversed to his right, facing towards the old crop duster. “We’ve been over this before, Dusty…”  
“I must warn you now Crophopper, I’m one tough negotiator. I’ll go for just about the minimum wage and no more, as well as 8 to 10 job.”  
“Leadbottom.” Skipper raised his voice, causing quite a lot of the customers to look over in surprise.  
“You are not deciding what Dusty is doing…” Skipper scolded.  
“And you’re allowed to decide for him?” Leadbottom replied annoyed.  
“No one!” Dusty suddenly roared, scaring both the planes, the helicopter and everyone else. “Is deciding anything for me. I’m deciding and what I’ve decided is to leave the racing scene all together.”  
There was a collections of audible gasps around the room. El Chu was so surprised, he fainted.  
“Leave the racing scene?” Skipper finally found his voice.  
Dusty looked at everyone around his room. He looked at each and every single one of them, before he had to do double take as his eyes fell upon a unconscious El Chu. He took a deep breath and finally spoke.  
“When I joined the racing scene, you guys told me it was pointless but when I won the Wings Around the Globe, you didn’t see the bumbling crop duster anymore...”  
Everyone looked away. All though they did apologies, they did feel a little guilty about it.  
“...you saw a champ, someone you could cheer on. You supported me ever since then and when I became a firefighter, you continued to supported me through it all. You all did so much for me and I think it’s time I return the favour. But that fire made me realise that I need help...Mayday can handle the town but what about the fires outside the town? Mayday’s pipes need to connect to hydrants and what happens if he needs to get to a fire where there are no hydrants…” Dusty’s voice and face feel once again as he knew he couldn't do this alone. “...I need a second firefighter….”


End file.
